ChangED With The Seasons
by Little Laughssassin
Summary: Kevin is one of the top athletes in Peach Creek High, and going for captain of the football team; meanwhile, Edd is the academic pride and practically the polar opposite of Kevin. From one summer to another, as the seasons change, so do their lives, and they become closer than they ever thought possible, but will this happiness last, or will they just be stuck in the past?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_Well hello there lovely readers :) Here I am once again with my second multichapter EEnE fanfic! I still don't know how many chapters I want in total, so I guess I'll just go with the flow for now. _A Leap of Faith_ got such a great response from you guys that it made me really want to start a new fic, so, hopefully this one goes just as well!

Enjoy this little high school fic! :D

**P.S:** Since my new semester of university just started, I probably will take a little while to update my chapters, so please be patient with me.

**My tumblr: **little - laughssassin tumblr. com

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_**Ch. 1: Back-To-School Blues**_

You are the MVP

_The star player_

_You are the school spirit_

_You are the athlete_

_You are your image_

He was indeed his image. Kevin Barr had now grown into a robust young man and the pride of the school athletics. This was his Junior year and Kevin was a sure bet for the captain of the football team; he was also in the basketball team and a baseball team outside of school when he was younger, but the pressure of 3 teams began to take a toll on him not only physically, but educationally, and his parents would have none of that, so they made him chose only 1 sports for now, and he chose football. He loved it; he loved the strength it required, the speed, and the ferocity of it. In other words, Kevin liked feeling like a force to be reckoned with, and if things went well, he'd even get to be the alpha. He knew it wouldn't be an easy task to be a captain, but he'd be damned if he didn't forge and lead a winning team (especially since he had his eye on a sports scholarship for university).

_Beep beep beep beep_

Kevin awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, and with a groan he slammed his hand over the snooze button on top. He took a moment to just lie there motionless and try to force himself to react to the cruel reality that he had to get up for yet another boring day of school. '_Ugh….school.'_

He finally sat up in bed, stretching and yawning and cracking a bone or two in the process. Kevin didn't want to leave his bed; who ever wants to leave their bed in the morning? That was like, when your bed was always the most comfy! And this was what he thought to himself every morning since he could remember. Kevin wasn't a school person, not at all; he wasn't a complete imbecile, but he wasn't a great student either. Kevin just kinda got by and flew under the radar when it came to his grades, but, as long as he decently passed all of his classes, that was good enough for him.

He sluggishly got out of bed and went on with his morning routine. A shower helped to wake him up but it didn't help to better his mood – it rarely did, but in the shower's defense, he just wasn't a morning person. After getting dressed in some dark jeans, a thin, gray, long-sleeved shirt, his football letterman jacket, and of course his beloved red cap, he descended to the kitchen where he was greeted with the delicious scent of freshly made blueberry pancakes.

"Morning, mom, dad."

"Morning, sweetheart." Answered his mother with a smile; the petite blonde woman who was currently flipping one more pancake to add to the warm pile on the plate next to her.

"Morning, son. So, how's the VIP feeling for his first day of Junior year? Think you'll get the title of captain for the football team?"

"Think it? I _know_ it!"

"That's m'boy!" Kevin was nearly the spitting image of his father. A tall, well-built man with bright, copper hair and faint freckles on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose – his eyes however, he inherited from his mother; intense, forrest-green eyes. His father was also part of the football team when he was in high school, in fact, he was captain by his Junior year, and went on to play for another 2 years in college before an injury forced him to step out, but by the time he had recovered properly he had met Kevin's mother (who was all about education) and decided to settle for his studies instead.

Kevin devoured his pancakes and said a quick goodbye to his parents before walking out of the house to open the garage so he could get his bike out. He loved his bike like life itself, and although he was capable of driving a car (he had been practicing for his license with his parents) he had always been a bike person, so really his goal wasn't a cool, fancy car, but instead a legitimate motorcycle. He could not wait for the glorious day when he could not only drive it, but afford it too.

Just as he was walking his bike out of the garage, he noticed movement coming from further into the cul-de-sac, and he had to squint a little to make out the oncoming shapes in the distance.  
Ed and Eddy were walking together towards him, and Kevin was now able to clearly hear Eddy's obnoxious laughter getting closer and closer. _'As if my mood wasn't bad enough today…'_

"Hey lumpy, look, it's idiot maximus." Said Eddy to his companion, with a mocking grin at Kevin.

"Hi Kevin!" Answered a friendly Ed.

Kevin snarled at the two approaching teens, "Whatever, _dorks… _Hey where's Double Dweeb?" It wasn't every day that the trio would be incomplete. They were pretty much a package deal of 'losers' to Kevin.

"What's it to ya?" Snapped Eddy.

"Jesus, dork, it was just a question."

"Double D is already gone to school." Answered Edd, "He likes being super early!"

'_Should've known.'_ Thought the redhead, "Right…once a dweeb always a dweeb." And with that he mounted his bike and set off as if the whole thing hadn't even happened, leaving behind a sour Eddy and a distracted Ed.

Once he made it to school grounds, Kevin parked and secured his bike to the rack and went inside. There were still 15 minutes left until class started, so he simply made his way to find his friends sitting by the lounge-cafeteria area of the school. The football team was a rowdy bunch, and when they saw Kevin they flocked to him and almost tackled him to the ground as a salute. Kevin laughed and shoved them off of him as he made his way to the table they were sitting at originally, which also included a few of the cheerleaders from their grade.

"Good morning Mr. Grumpypants!" Greeted Nazz cheerfully.

"Hi Nazz." Chuckled Kevin. Nazz, along with Rolf, was his best friend since they were children at the cul-de-sac, and he had developed a big crush on her when they were about 11 or 12, but it didn't work out very well, so he never confessed, and it kind of just went away…for a while at least. Kevin had always thought that Nazz was pretty, but now that puberty had taken it's course, it got to a whole new level, and Kevin couldn't help but gravitate towards her once again. A football player and a cheerleader girlfriend, a typical, cliché, high school romance for sure, but this was Nazz, so, it was all good.

"Hey Kev, go easy on us when you get to be the captain!" Said Ricky, one of his teammates who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, _cap,_ don't get us angry; you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!" said Liam, puffing himself up and growling in a joking imitation of the Hulk, making the rest laugh.

"Don't start calling me captain just yet man. You're gonna jinx it for me!" Laughed Kevin, slightly smacking Liam on the arm.

"Jinx shminx, everyone knows you have like a 90% chance of being the new captain for our senior year! All you gotta do is keep playing like you do until April."

"Yeah which gives me about 7 months to mess up in that other 10%"

"Oh please Kevin, cut that out." Interrupted Nazz, "I've known you for years and I know that ego of yours is just inflating your head by the day!" She teased him.

Kevin smirked, lightly blushing, and rubbed the back of his neck, "Naaaahhhh I wouldn't saayyy thaattt."

"Your girl's probably right though." Mentioned another teammate.

"N-NOT MY GIRL!" Kevin sputtered the words out, earning a laugh from everyone in the table, including a (unbeknownst to him) blushing Nazz.

The laughter and good times were cut short by the school bell, signaling the official beginning of the first day of school. The football teamed groaned in unison and the girls laughed some more as they gathered their things and got up.

"Ya coming Kev?" Asked Nazz.

"I gotta quickly pass by my locker first, so you guys go ahead!"

"Alright, see ya later!" She waved goodbye and walked away with a few of the others.

Kevin walked in the opposite direction towards his assigned locker area and began scanning for his locker number. "2040…2042…there we go, 2046." A sudden noise startled him as he was entering his combination into the locker; he hadn't even noticed someone else was close to him, especially since the halls were already starting to get empty.

"Oh curses…how could I lose track of time like this?" Kevin heard the mumble coming from two lockers to his left. He could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Double Dork?"

"O-oh, greetings Kevin." Answered the sockheaded Ed, barely sparing a glance at Kevin's direction, and went back to quickly moving things around in his locker and shoving things into his messenger bag.

"Chill out Double D, you still have like 5 minutes till the last bell rings." Said Kevin nonchalantly, taking his French textbook out of his locker and closing it again.

"F-five minutes only?!" Edd rushed as fast as he could, shoving who knows what else into his bag, slamming his locker shut and running past Kevin. However, in the process of running past Kevin, Edd sort of ran _into_ Kevin as the redhead was also turning to leave, and consequently, made himself land on his rear, and Kevin nearly land face-first had it not been for his quick reflexes.

"Jesus Christ, DORK! Watch it!"

"M-my apologies Kevin! But I simply cannot be late on the first day of class! Or…or any for that matter! Have a good day!" Edd quickly got up and once again made his way towards class.

"Freaking dork..." One more thing to add to his already somewhat sour 'first-day-class-kill-me-now' mood. Not only was he back in his prison, but he would have to deal with one of the Eds as a locker neighbor – meaning that the other 2 would likely infest that area every now and then and he'd have to see, or at least hear Eddy – and on top of that, said locker-neighbor-Edd nearly made him face plant on the floor.

Kevin sighed in annoyance as he got up and quickly ran towards his own class. As he went up the stairs and took the hall that led towards his goal, he caught a glimpse of a familiar black beanie before the door to a classroom as closed. Kevin took out a folded piece of paper from his jeans to see his schedule and took note of the classroom's number, then looked at the plate next to the door…and they matched. _'Seems like I have a class with the dweeb too…ah well…'_

Kevin softly opened the door and immediately most of the classroom turned to look at him the moment he stepped inside. Man, he really hated when people did that…it was just so awkward. He noticed Edd standing just a few steps away from him as well, not sitting down yet.

"Ah, bonjour, bonjour! Are you here for French 11?"

"Uhm…oui?"

"You're in the right place then! You and Eddward made it just in time for my lecture, but please be mindful of the time in the future. I have never been a fan of tardiness!"

"My apologies Ms. Berteau." Answered Edd.

"It's only the first class, so for today it's ok, don't worry. Now…How about you two take the two seats over here." Ms. B pointed to a desk near the window by the back of the class. Kevin was glad that it wasn't anywhere near the front, but Edd didn't seem to share the sentiment.

The two boys walked over to what would be their new desk for the remainder of the year, and that's when it hit kevin, that for the next 9 months, he'd have to sit next to Double Dweeb of all people.

'_Well this day just keeps getting better and better for me…'_


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N:_** And here I am with chapter 2 for you guys. I understand if it seems like I'm starting a little slow, but, I feel like I need to considering the ideas I have for this story and how I want it to start developing.

Thank you so much if you followed and liked my other stories and thaaannnkkk yoouuu if you're liking and or following this one! & comments are always welcomed for feedback :)

**Tumblr: little - laughssassin . tumblr . com**

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**_Ch. 2: Oh Mon Dieu_**

_You are the scholar_

_The mad scientist_

_Your are the academic pride_

_You are the inventor_

_You are your grades_

He was indeed his grades. Eddward Vincent had been a top student all his life, and his Junior year was not going to be an exception. Edd was 16 now, and although he was still thin and tall, puberty did help him gain a bit of muscle, enough to define him a little bit; about a year ago he decided to give swimming a try, not competitively but just to learn a helpful skill and gain some strength. He had thought about maybe joining the school's swim team, but part of him was worried that because he didn't swim for competition, it would end up being a bad idea.

Edd had gotten up early that day with the excitement of a new school year. He had his favorite breakfast, yogurt parfait with granola and fresh fruit, 2 eggs and some nice, cold, orange juice; his parents left for work as he began to eat, with his mother kissing him softly on the forehead and his father patting his shoulder as they said goodbye for the day. His parents were always busy, leaving home early and coming back late; Edd rarely spent more than 3 hours with them on any given day, and sadly, by now he was quite used to this routine. His parents could easily be labeled as workaholics but Edd new they worked hard so that their family could live comfortably and he could have the best education possible, so he felt he owed it to them to be the best student he could be – he enjoyed school anyway.

One thing that for sure would never change for the boy, was the use of his beloved black beanie; his signature beanie he has had and worn since early childhood. His reason for wearing it was known only to him and his 2 best friends (and this was only because they found out by force), and although his friends had made a light joke out of it before, as they got older they assured him that what was under his hat was no big deal, but, Edd wouldn't budge.

The beanie was his security blanket, and he already didn't exactly have the best self-esteem when it came to his looks and status in school; sure he was proud of his brains and skills, but he was still the "nerd" and in high school, that could make him a target. For someone else to see the scar that was underneath the black cloth would be his downfall. '_That'll teach me to mess with an electric razor as a mere 5 year old child…goodness.'_

He quickly grabbed his messenger bag from his room and left his home to face a brand new day and a brand new school year; he would've waited for Ed and Eddy, but being the first day back to school after a long summer break, there was no way those 2 would wake up at a good time, and even if they did, they would take forever to get ready at the pace of a sleepy sloth.

As he neared the school, Edd checked his watch for the time, 8:00 a.m. – meaning he still had a good 35 minutes before classes started – and took out his schedule to double check it.

"Let's see now… French, AP Chemistry, AP Math, AP English, Cooking, and Physics. I am so relieved the school accepted my swimming outside of school to count as an equivalent to my physical education credits," he sighed, "I do hope I get good teachers… to be a good student is one thing but if your instructor is incapable of doing a good job then that just gives all students extra work."

He looked up from his schedule to see that he was now just a few steps away from the entrance to Peach Creek High; the parking lot was still relatively empty, and there weren't many students walking around. Edd opened the doors and took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. '_This is it Eddward. Today you are officially a Junior and only one year away from graduation! Now…what shall I do in the meantime' _he mused as he began walking again and headed towards his locker to leave his stuff. The library would probably be completely empty, and if not there would probably be no more than 2 people in there at this hour, so he decided to go there while he waited.

He sat down at an empty table and opened his French textbook that he brought with him, "Might as well start doing some reading to prepare myself for the class ahead."

As he read, time flew by without him even noticing, that is, until his phone buzzed in his pocket; a text message from Eddy:

**To sockhead:** yo sockhead, where u at? Lumpy and I are here now, or did you get to class already?

"Class already? What time is it?" He checked the time from the text message and gasped to himself. 8:26 a.m.

He only had 9 minutes left!

He typed in a quick reply to Eddy as he closed the book and stood up from the desk, hurrying to get back to his locker.

**To Eddy: **Oh my, I did not notice the time! Forgive me gentlemen, but, I DO need to head to class now! I shall see you during the first break!

'_Curses! I cannot be late! Not on my first day!' _

Finally he reached his locker, and checked the time on his watch; it was 8:28 now. He was thankful that the library and his locker were both on the first floor of the school. Even with frantic fingers, he managed to twirl the lock into the right combination and opened it, grabbing his bag and foraging his locker for everything he needed.

"Double Dork?"

He barely even realized someone had spoken to him, but he did recognize the familiar voice, "O-oh, greetings Kevin." He quickly answered, barely sparing a glance at the redhead nearby as he continued to organize his bag as best he could in the time-crunch.

"Chill out Double D, you still have like 5 minutes till the last bell rings." He heard the boy say.

"F-five minutes only?!" Order be damned! He finished stuffing his pencil case into his bag and closed it quickly, swinging it over his shoulder a he closed his locker once again and prepared to run. Unfortunately, as he turned to make a dash for his class, he collided with something sturdy and the impact made him fall backwards. It was Kevin.

"Jesus Christ, DORK, Watch it!"

"M-my apologies Kevin! But I simply cannot be late on the first day of class! Or…or any for that matter! Have a good day!" He quickly stood up, not even bothering to extend a helping hand to Kevin – which he did feel bad about – but there was simply no time! And besides, Kevin was a strong athlete, and Edd was sure the impact didn't cause him any damage.

He ran up the stairs, and took out his schedule to check the room number, '_Room 220, room 220, room 220…" _he repeated to himself as he went in the direction of the hallway he knew the classroom would be in. He stopped in front of it, and opened the door quietly, making it barely on time.

"Bonjour! Are you in my class too? French 11?" Asked a stout woman with pretty brown curls and a light French accent.

"Indeed. I'm Eddward" Answered Edd, slightly out of breath.

"Vincent? Oh yes, your in my li-"

Right as she was about to finish her sentence, the door opened once again as yet another student came inside. Edd turned his head to see who it was, only to see Kevin once again.

"Ah, bonjour, bonjour! Are you here for French 11?"

"Uhm… oui?"

"You're in the right place then! You and Eddward made it just in time for my lecture, but please be mindful of the time in the future. I have never been a fan of tardiness!"

"My apologies Ms. Berteau." Answered Edd.

"It's only the first class, so for today it's ok, don't worry. Now…How about you two take the two seats over here." Ms. B pointed to a desk near the window by the back of the class. Edd wasn't too excited about this, since he usually preferred a good seat by the front of the class; Kevin however, didn't seem to mind at all, and Edd couldn't say he was surprised about it.

And then it hit him like a brick being dropped inside his stomach; for the next 9 months, for every French class he had, he'd be sitting next to _Kevin_, his childhood terror and longtime bully. Granted they were on way better terms ever since the big fall out with Eddy's brother over at his trailer, but with him being him, and Kevin being Kevin, a proper, normal friendship would be too much to ask of the two boys.

'_Well…nothing you can do about it now…so…might as well make the best of the situation and be friendly.'_

"My apologies once again for earlier, Kevin. I suppose I was in too much of a hurry…"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, don't sweat it." He said nonchalantly, but then turned his head slightly so he could face Edd a little better, "just don't do it again, ok dork?" he said more sternly this time.

Edd nodded silently and turned to face the front as their teacher began her lecture. After some examples and reading, she asked the students to turn to their neighbours and start asking each other questions from the book. He heard Kevin softly groan but Edd turned to him anyways.

"Shall I being or would you prefer to do so?"

"You can start if you wanna. I don't really care." Answered the redhead with a small shrug.

"Very well…uhm… préférez-vous vivre dans la ville, la banlieue, ou la campagne?"

"Ville."

"Kevin we're supposed to be at least _trying_ to use full sentences?"

"Fine…Je préfère vivre dans la ville." He said slowly as he read the ways to answer from the book."

"Despite being in a cul-de-sac?" Questioned Edd with innocent curiosity.

"Of course. The city's cooler; stuff always happened, and there were a lot more places to go to."

"Ah, alright." He had almost forgotten that Kevin had moved into the cul-de-sac from a nearby city, "Well, your turn to ask me now." He said with a soft smile.

"Hmm…" a small sly smile crept its way to Kevin's lips, "pourquoi êtes-vous un dork?" he asked teasingly.

Double D furrowed his eyebrows at the readhead, "Kevin that has nothing to do with the topic…"

"In that case, préférez-vous être un dork dans la ville, la banlieue, ou la campagne?" he said smugly.

"Oh how clever of you Kevin." Sarcasm coating Edd's words.

"I'm just trying to make this a little more interesting."

"I'm just trying to learn."

"This is boring!"

"No it is not. Now please Kevin stick to the questions."

Kevin huffed but looked to the page in his textbook, "Est-ce que vous habitez dans une maison, ou dans un appartement?"

"J'habite dans une maison en banlieue."

"Ok I think we're done. You answered one and I answered one. We have learned French."

Now Edd was just starting to get a little annoyed, "That was hardly anything…"

"Still something."

"Kevin, I honestly do hope that this seating arrangement does not cause any... _inconveniences _towards our learning here nor for our grades."

"In other words, you're telling me to not fuck shit up for ya?" whispered Kevin so that their teacher couldn't hear him.

"Language, please, you're in a classroom!"

"Don't worry Double Dweeb, you're stuff ain't my problem."

"Appreciated. Good grades require hard work after all."

"Yeah, so do sports."

"That is an area of skill, this is an area of knowledge."

Kevin cocked an eyebrow and turned to the sockhead, leaning his face closer to his and making the ravenet jump lightly and his eyes widen a bit. "Are you calling me lazy _and _dumb?"

"N-n-no. no. just that… well…W-we just excel at different things that's all."

Kevin twitched his hand from his desk as if he were gonna lift it, and he noticed Edd flinch ever so slightly and his eye contact with the redhead broke. Kevin smirked, enjoying the feeling of physical superiority to the nerd, "Yeah, guess you got that one right. _Dork._" He said the last word with emphasis as he leaned away from the ravenet and back to his chair.

Double D sighed softly, rested an elbow on the desk and brought his forehead to his hand, lightly rubbing it.

'_This is going to be a long year…'_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_ So this chapter turned out a little bit longer lol, but it's ok i guess. Ugh...school has been starting to get stressful and i'm starting to lose sleep...so i'm hoping i don't fuck up this fanfic for you guys haha.

anyway, enjoy ch. 3, but be aware that it will include some bullying.

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**_Ch. 3: The Social-Food-Chain_**

At last the sound of the lunch bell granted the students of Peach Creek High some temporary freedom, and the students poured out of their classrooms with the unanimous goal of getting some food. Kevin couldn't be more grateful for it, since those pancakes he ate for breakfast were now completely gone from his stomach – which kept growling like a beast during his previous history class; history and hunger do not go well together, especially when the class was already so uninteresting to him to begin with.

Kevin entered the cafeteria and stood in line to get some food; lunch had just started a few minutes ago and already the line-up seemed eternal, '_fuck…that'll teach me to forget packing a lunch…'_

"Kev!"

The redhead turned his head at the sound of the familiar female voiced and smiled, waving at his friend, "sup Nazz?"

The blonde stood by his side in the line-up, although she was carrying her own lunch bag, "Not much. Just finished sewing class, and, not gonna lie, I'm a little scared for the safety of my fingers…"

"Well you aren't exactly the most graceful person out there." Smirked Kevin.

"I'm a cheerleader! Of course I am!" Answered Nazz, lightly punching him on the arm.

Kevin chuckled, "Yeah as a cheerleader, but God knows you can't even sow a scarf…and that's like making a snake balloon animal."

"Hey even a scarf isn't that simple to make y'know?" she puffed her cheeks and pouted at her friend, but Kevin simply laughed more and patted her on the head.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." He said with a warm smile.

Nazz returned it and sighed, "so, enough about my lack of craftiness…what about you? How has your day been going so far?"

"Meh, hella boring as usual…Oh, but guess what, I have French class with Double Dweeb." He snorted and sighed.

"Aw, Kev, Double D isn't so bad and you know that."

"Well maybe in comparison to the other dorkiteers, but he's still a dork."

Despite the line having seemed eternal before, Kevin noticed that as he was talking to Nazz, he had almost made his way to the front, and was now only 2 people away from reaching the lunch lady so he could finally order something. His turn came and he ordered a cheeseburger with a coke and paid for his food; he and Nazz walked towards the table with a few of Kevin's teammates and Nazz's cheerleader friends were already sitting and joined them.

"Well if it ain't the mister and the misses." Teased Liam, taking a huge bite of his pizza.

Kevin blushed and smacked him hard on the back of the head before sitting down too, and Nazz taking the spot in front of him.

"So, has school been a boring hell for everyone else too?"

"Yeeep" Answered the whole table in unison, and Kevin couldn't help but laugh.

"Man I got Biology with a bunch of nerds…but then again, maybe I can get one or two to "help" me with my homework." Mused Ricky, a bulky teen with dark short hair.

"I don't think that's the type of "help" they'd be willing to give…" answered the annoyed cheerleader with long, mousey hair next to him.

"Well maybe I'll just have to convince them." He winked at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, but she simply sighed and shook her head.

"Well, isn't my beau just the _sweetest_" she answered with a sarcastic smile.

"Speaking of sweet little nerds…" Another teammate, Danny said with a sly grin.

The rest of the football players in the table turned to look towards the doors where Danny was looking. Sure enough Edd was entering the cafeteria along with his two best friends.

"What about him?" Shrugged Kevin.

"Weeellll," he dragged on the word, "since we've had such a boring day, why not have a little fun now?"

The rest of the team seemed somewhat uninterested, including Kevin, but Ricky and Liam looked at each other, then back to Danny, and nodded smiling.

Danny chuckled and nodded, "If you'll excuse us fellas, we're gonna go play a little bit." The three jocks stood up and walked in the direction of the Ed's table. Kevin turned to look at them, but didn't think much of it, he knew how the social ladder worked, and he knew that this was normal behavior of his friends – besides, not like they ever did any serious damage, plus, if Eddy got bothered too, that just meant bonus points to Kevin. He looked in front of him to where Nazz was sitting, and saw the troubled look on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I just hate it when they do that to people..." She answered softly, biting the inside of her cheek.

"It's no big deal, they're just gonna tease them a little bit. No harm done." He answered nonchalantly.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him but just went back to her lunch. Kevin didn't understand why Nazz seemed so troubled, it's not like it hadn't happened before. But something at the very back of his mind told him that maybe he should just keep an occasional careful eye out for the table.

* * *

The Eds sat at a table near a front corner of the cafeteria and took out their respective lunches; Edd had a ham and cheese sandwich with some lettuce and bacon, along with a bottle of water and an apple, Eddy had bought 2 slices of cheese pizza from the cafeteria, and Ed had a turkey sandwich with extra gravy on French toast, along with some apple juice.

"Jesus, I never thought that blasted bell would ring…" Said Eddy. "Could math possibly be any more LAME?"

"Nonesense, Eddy! Math is so interesting! And you encounter it everywhere in your every day life whether you realize it or not. It's very helpful knowledge for you to h-"

"Blllaaahhhhhh!"

"Eddy please refrain from interrupting people when they're talking, it's rude!"

"Ooohhh my God, sockhead, I don't care how or when or where I encounter math! The only mathy skill I need is addition so I can count up all the buckaroos I'll make in the future!"

"Oh but of course." Answered Edd with a cocked eyebrow.

"Can turkeys count Double D?"

"Uh…n-no Ed. I highly doubt it."

"I dunno Double D, some birds can be pretty smart." He was about to take another bite out of his sandwich when he suddenly gasped, "WHAT IF I'M EATING THE EINSTEIN OF TURKEYS DOUBLE D?"

"Don't worry about it Ed, I'm sure the turkey did what it had to do while it was alive."

"Eat up lumpy, maybe that way you'll actually gain some brain cells." Laughed Eddy, but stopped when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder and turned to see who it was. A sour scowl painted his face as he glared at the jocks behind him. "Oh great…what do you guys want?"

"Ouch man, that's no way to greet a fellow classmate!" Said Ricky with mock hurt on his voice.

"M-my apologies gentlemen…uhm, do you need assistance with anything?" Asked Double D cautiously.

"Nahhh, we just came to see how our favorite dorks were doing." Said Danny as he swung an arm over Ed's neck.

"Aww, I think I'm his favorite Double D!" exclaimed Edd.

Eddy tch'd and rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, we're fine, so, you guys can leave now."

"Aw c'mon pipsqueak, don't be so rude. It's not nice to be rude, right Double Dweeb?" He placed a strong hand on Double D's shoulder and bent on his waist, getting his head to be leveled with the sitting Ed.

"Th-that's right…" he answered quietly.

"Good boy." Liam patted Edd on the head and laugh, but Edd knew that wasn't a friendly laugh at all. He had heard that kind of laughter many times before.

"Jackasses." Mumbled Eddy, looking away with a scowl still on his face.

Ricky, who still hovered over Eddy, narrowed his eyes at the boy before speaking, "What was that shorty? I don't think I heard ya right."

"I said, J-A-C-K-A-S-S-E-S." He turned to look at the jock and enunciated the word clearly and slowly.

Ricky reached out and grabbed Eddy by the shirt collar but before he could do anything more, Edd piped up with a plea, "Ricky, please! We're all mature 16 year old students now, so let's at least act our age! Violence is completely uncalled for!"

"Act our age? You calling us _immature?_" Danny glared at the sockhead.

"Well if you continue to act in such a manner then yes, I do believe you are being immature."

"I don't think I like these accusations your shitting out of your mouth little nerd." Said Liam with a stern voice, digging his fingers into Edd's shoulder, lightly making him wince.

"Forget it Double D, you're wasting your time trying to talk sense into these guys."

"You hear that boys? Apparently we're immature _and_ stupid." Answered Ricky.

"Well, we can't stand for that now can we?" Said Danny.

"Now, now, gentlemen," Liam looked at both teammates with a malicious grin, "I think these losers have a point. So, how about we all get out of the cafeteria so we can talk in a more civilized manner?" He grabbed Edd's arm, tugging him up so that the thin teenager was now standing up, only a few inches shorter than the jock at a decent 5'7".

The other 2 followed suit, yanking the remaining Eds off their seats and dragging them away.

"But my lunch-" Began Edd before being caught off by Liam reaching out past him and grabbing Edd's sandwich before leaving again.

"Oh, don't mind if I do. Thanks dork."

* * *

Every now and then Kevin would turn to look at the Eds table and monitor what his buddies were doing; he had only seen them talking to them, and Eddy starting to get annoyed (much to Kevin's pleasure), but then he noticed his friends starting to get very annoyed as well after Edd and Eddy said something to them. He had turned around to keep eating, but when he went to look at the table again, he realized his teammates were dragging the Eds away and Liam had someone's lunch in one hand as he grabbed a hold of Edd with his free one.

Nazz noticed Kevin looking and followed his gaze, she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him, "I don't think I like how that's going to end up."

Kevin turned to her and shrugged, "They'll be fine, it's ok Nazz." But really he didn't know how much of that was the truth; he knew all 3 of the boys had a bit of a temper, 4 if you count in Eddy, so he knew things could potentially get physical. Eddy could probably weasel his way out of it after throwing a few punches, since his stature did help him in escaping, as Kevin had found out before – and he had to admit, the shortest of the Eds could be pretty fast when he wanted to – Ed was a lot stronger than he looked, so he could probably defend himself as well, or at least not come out as damaged…but Edd…he knew Edd was the pacifist of the group, preferring conversation over confrontation, and he wasn't nearly as strong as his teammates or Ed, nor sneaky enough like Eddy…and this worried Kevin.

'_Worry? Me? For the dweeb? There must be something funky in this burger…Like some sort of drug or some shit._'

He tried to ignore the feeling as he kept eating, but after 10 minutes since they had gone away from the cafeteria, the 3 boys had not returned, and there were only about 20 minutes left of lunch; but as Kevin took the last couple of bites from his burger, he saw the movement coming towards him from the corner of his eyes and he turned to see his teammates.

"That little shit can run…" was the first thing that Danny said, and Kevin was pretty sure he knew who he was talking about.

"Yeah well at least he didn't blindly kick you," retorted Ricky as he rubbed his stomach, "and _hard_."

"What? No complains from you?" Asked Kevin.

"Nope. Mine was easy to deal with. Although he did put up a bit of a fight," he chuckled, "I'm impressed he even tried."

"Heh…" was all Kevin could manage. For some reason, he didn't feel very well, but he couldn't quite pinpoint why. He realized the table where the Eds had been sitting was still Ed-free, and he sighed, with curiosity and something else gnawing at him.

"I'll be right back…"

"Sure thing cap!"

Nazz followed Kevin with her gaze as he walked away.

* * *

Kevin was just going to take a quick trip to the bathroom, or rather…that's what he told himself…but he knew he didn't have to go badly, if at all, and there was something else he was looking for, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

'_No sign of the dorks anywhere…wait…what do I care?!'_ he grunted and walked towards his area locker since the washrooms where in that direction. He wasabout to walk past his locker when he heard a thud coming from next to him; he stopped and looked around, thinking that perhaps he was just hearing things. The area was relatively empty of people during lunch, since most students were either outside or still sitting in the cafeteria; but then he heard it again, and he was sure of it this time. He turned his head towards the row of lockers next to him.

"Uhm…hello?"

There was silence for a second, but then he heard what seemed like a soft sniffle. He realized the sound was coming from the locker that was 2 away from his, '_wait…isn't that…'_

"…Double Dork?"

Another sniffle.

'_Ah Christ…' _He gently tapped the locker door, "Double Dork, you in there?"

"…mhm…"

"Need some help getting out?"

"That would be greatly appreciated…"

"I'm gonna need your combination."

"…"

"C'mon dork, if you wanna get out then I'm gonna need the damn combo. Chill, I ain't gonna go stealing your stuff later or anything."

"…"

"…Ugh, fine, whatever, just stay in there. Lunch is almost over so I'm sure someone else will c-"

"24-51-06"

Kevin sighed and nodded, "Smart move, dork." He twirled the locker following the numbers given by Edd and the lock clicked open. Kevin took it off and opened the door, only to reveal a teary-eyed Edd with a light bruise on his left cheekbone.

"Thank you Kevin." Edd said blankly as he stepped out, "I'll be leaving now."

"Wait." Kevin grabbed Edd's shoulder and was surprised to see the sockhead wince against his touch. He wasn't sure if it was out of fear, or because Liam had hurt him there too. "You ok man?"

"I have a bruised cheekbone, a bruised shoulder, and I've been stuffed in a locker for," he checked his watch, "about 15 minutes…Oh yeah, I'm just _fantastic_." He answered bitterly at the jock.

"Geez dork, no need to give me attitude too; I'm the one who got you _out_ of your locker, not into it." Answered Kevin defensively.

"No…I suppose you didn't…" Edd turned to leave again, but after taking a couple of steps he halted and turned to look at Kevin, "at least, not this time."

Kevin felt something hit him in the pit of his stomach… guilt? Was this guilt? Why would he be feeling guilty now? Especially when he didn't do anything to the dork, if anything, he got him out of the locker and who knows how long he would've last in there. I mean sure, he _had_ gotten Edd into his locker back in middle school, like once or twice…or… 5 times… but they were still kids back then and he was still a little iffy about them even after what happened with Eddy's older brother. Plus, he was starting to become an important part of the social-food-chain and he had a reputation in the making that he had to start living up to. So…what was so different about today?

"Wait, dweeb." Why was he even reacting? Why was he walking after Edd? "I'm sorry ok? I'll talk to the guys and tell them to back off a little ok?"

"Oh please Kevin, do not pity me."

"What the fuck? I'm trying to be helpful."

"You're help would've been better appreciated 15 minutes ago, since I'm certain you saw your _friends_ approaching us."

"How was I supposed to know you and the other dorkiteers where gonna piss em off? What did you say to them anyway?

Edd furrowed his eyebrows and squinted his eyes at Kevin, "_We_ were simply trying to enjoy our lunch, _we_ were only talking to each other, _we_ were the ones being bothered by those brutes, _Eddy _called them as he saw them, much to my dismay because I just KNEW this would happen, and _THEY_ were the ones who decided to have some more "fun" with me and my friends."

Kevin sighed, "Look I said I was sorry, and I really will talk to them ok?" He looked down to his shoes, "just try to be more careful next time…No big deal."

"No big deal? _No big deal?_" Edd huffed and looked to his side and away from Kevin, "Of course it's no big deal to you…" he mumbled sadly, "I shall be leaving now, goodbye, and once again… thank you for getting me out."

Kevin stared at the boy as he walked away, likely in search of his missing friends to make sure they were ok before lunch ended. He still felt bad for the teen; he hadn't gotten into any physical conflict with the Edds since grade 9 when they were 14, and he liked to think he had grown up since then…but it seemed Edd might still see him as that kid from 2 years ago, and even further back…

'_I'm not a kid anymore…I wouldn't lay a finger on anyone anymore!' _But then he remembered earlier that day in French class, when he made Edd flinch as he pretended to lift his arm for a hit…but he didn't go through with it of course, he wouldn't do that…right?

'_maybe…maybe I still have some growing up to do….fucking hell why am I even thinking about this? The dork didn't even have any injuries except for 1 or 2 minor bruises! NO. BIG. DEAL.' _Kevin sighed, and simply walked back to the cafeteria.


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N:_** Oh boy, I finally managed to finish this chapter, and it ended up being quite a bit longer than the other 3 have been, but, I'm satisfied so far.

Thank you so much to everyone reading this and/or if you read my other works so far as well :D Reviews are always nice too so I can see how I'm doing so far! I don't wanna make this story and the development suuuper long/slow but I also want to manage that character growth as effectively as I can you know? so, yeah! :)

* * *

_**Ch. 4: CarED For**_

Edd eventually found his friends after the incident with the football players; he found Ed first in one of the school's bathrooms on the second floor, and Eddy was nearby by an empty hallway.

"Sockhead? How did you get out?" asked Eddy, poking his friend on the cheek as if to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.

Edd gently swatted Eddy's hand away, "I assure you I am real, and as for how I got out…well…Kevin got me out."

"Kevin?! You mean boxhead of all people?"

"Yes Eddy, Kevin Barr got me out of my locker. He was walking by and I suppose he heard me or something and he offered his help."

"That was nice of him." Added Ed.

"Indeed."

"Ha! I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who sent them in the first place…"

"Eddy that makes no sense. If that were true, then why would he even bother getting me out?"

"Pity? Remorse? Maybe he didn't want us to get suspicious!"

"Maybe it was a Zygon who morphed so he could look like Kevin and he got Double D out of his locker so that he could kill him and take over his life!" Ed dramatically formed claws with his hands as he loomed over Edd's head.

But Edd simply giggled, "Guess we'll be needing a Doctor." Just then the bell rang and his best friends groaned out loud, "Oh come now, the day is almost over. Let us go back to class gentlemen.

The rest of the day went buy without any more incidents, much to Edd's pleasure, and even better, the rest of the week went by dully as well. Finally Saturday rolled over and Edd could not be more pleased that the weekend had started, since he was still a little shaken from his first day and already he had homework to do.

His day started out at 8:30 a.m., with him doing chores around the house after breakfast, taking off sticky note after sticky note that his parents would leave for him, and as he was finishing cleaning the kitchen counters he heard the doorbell ring. He turned to the clock hanging on the wall, which indicated it was only 11:46 a.m.

Suspecting it to be one of his friends, he put down the cloth he was using and took off his rubber gloves, "Coming!"

He open the door, preparing to greet his friends, but froze when he saw Kevin standing at his door instead, "K-kevin?"

"Yeah…hi."

"Hello. What brings you here?"

"Uhm, actually, I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with some homework? I'm having a hard time with French…"

"This is why you should pay attention in class instead of texting or even sleeping…"

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't come to be lectured…I just came to see if you'd be willing to help."

"Hmm…very well then. I'm more than happy to help someone improve in school and further expand their knowledge! After all, it has been proven that one of the best methods for learning is peer learning and practice."

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Suuuure, whate-" he was quickly cut off by the sound of his gurgling stomach, which almost seemed to echo inside Edd's house. He stared down at his stomach in embarrassment and Edd looked at it too, stifling a soft giggle with his hand.

"I uhh…heh, guess I'm hungry." Said Kevin apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It would seem so, but it's understandable considering it is lunch time." He looked back to his kitchen, biting his lower lip, and then back to Kevin. "Unless you already have lunch plans at home or with someone else, I would not mind letting you taste some of my cooking."

Kevin's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened in genuine surprise, "Seriously?"

"Well, consider this a proper thank you for the locker incident. I _am_ sorry if I became somewhat bitter towards you in the end."

"Don't sweat it dork, and, thanks." Kevin gave him a sheepish smile before entering the home, but was immediately stopped on his tracks by Edd's hand in front of his face.

"I'll have to ask you to please remove your shoes and use the guest slippers, thank you!"

Kevin gave him a confused look, but then looked down to see fuzzy blue slippers next to a shoe-rack labeled 'Guest slippers'; he rolled his eyes but obeyed the sockhead and replaced his shoes before stepping further inside – not like Edd would've let him go anywhere inside if he didn't change his shoes.

The redhead looked around, impressed by the tidiness and almost eerie order of Edd's home; everything looked like it had stepped out of a magazine, with all the furniture placed out at perfect angles from each other and even the photos that were scattered around here and there looked like someone had taken some sort of laser guide or ruler to place them at a precise distance from each other and in perfect alignment. One photo in particular got his attention; next to the larger sofa, on top of a small side-table, was a very colorful frame, decorated with words like "Friends" and "Buddy" and such – an obvious contrast to the otherwise, cool, monotonous colors of the rest of the house – so Kevin leaned in to get a better look at it, only to realize it was a photo of Edd as a small child, alongside Ed and Eddy.

They could've been no bigger than 5-years-old, around the time that Edd moved into the cul-de-sac from god-knows-where. Kevin chuckled at the fact that even after all these years, Edd still kept that blasted hat on his big ol' head, and there was Ed who looked as overly excited as ever, and of course Eddy, who had his arms wrapped around his friends' shoulders with a big toothy smile. It was a little weird for Kevin to see Eddy genuinely smiling, the kid looked he had a sour attitude 24/7, but then again, Eddy had no reason to smile for Kevin.

"Kevin? Are you still here?" A small voice came from the kitchen.

"Yep!" He answered, snapped out of his trance from the photograph, "Just looking at some of these photos; man, you haven't changed a bit."

From the kitchen Edd smiled to himself as he took out ingredients for a baked, mac and cheese with bacon; usually he would try to be healthier, but he tried offering more hearty meals when his friends were over, and Kevin looked like he would need hearty meals to be satisfied as well.

Kevin looked around some more, curious to see as many photos as he could, and finally he spotted one with Edd and his parents, seated between them and smiling shyly, but completely content. Kevin had never seen either of Edd's parents, or at least, not this close, he had only gotten glimpses every now and then, but now he could actually registered what they looked like.

Edd's mother had very soft features, with big cyan eyes and a round nose, and jet-black soft waves framing her face – she was very pretty, Kevin thought – his father also had dark, short hair, and he wore rectangular glasses over his jade eyes, his face was more angular, but he had some good features.

'_I can see where the dork gets his looks from.'_ He thought to himself as he walked over to the kitchen, where he could already smell Edd's delicious cooking, _especially_ the aroma of bacon.

"Shit, dork, that smells pretty good."

"Language please, but thank you."

"You know, I never really saw your folks until now in a photograph back there," he pointed back towards the living room with his thumb, "You got your mom's eyes for sure."

Edd turned around from his cooking and smiled shyly at the readhead, "Yes, I always get that at family reunions; and it would seem I look quite like my father did when he was my age. I inherited his hair as well."

"Really?" Kevin had never in his life been able to see Edd's hair considering how it was _always_ well hidden under his hat, so he could only see a few stray hairs poking out the back of his neck, so, at least he could tell he _did_ have black hair.

"I look like my dad, but I got my mom's eyes too." He said nodding.

Edd was about to say how Kevin's mother must have lovely eyes considering Kevin's, but then bit his tongue to stop himself once he realized what the sentence sounded like.

The two boys ate Edd's meal, and Kevin sighed contently as he took his first bite, with Double D anxiously looking over at him so that he could see his reaction, smiling when the redhead gave him a big thumbs up.

"Oh my gooood, this tastes SO good! I should get ya to cook for me more often!" Said Kevin, as he enthusiastically took bite after bite of his plate of bacon mac-and-cheese.

"That would have to imply you coming over more often you know?"

"I don't mind!"

At this, Edd furrowed his eyebrows and set down his fork. "A-are you sure about that?"

Kevin stopped eating, swallowed what he had in his mouth, and looked curiously at the dork, "what do you mean?"

"Well…Kevin, no offense, but, this is one of the most civilized conversations we've had in quite some time."

"O-oh." Right, he and Edd weren't exactly in the best of terms due to their childhood issues, and still he would bother the dork every now and then just for the hell of it. He looked down to his plate and mumbled something, to which Edd asked, "Pardon?"

"msory…"

"Kevin, please speak up, I canno-"

"I'm sorry." He said sternly.

Edd's lips parted and he stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of him; Kevin had never apologized to him before, at least not that he could easily recall. It came as a surprise, but, Edd was happy about it, and he appreciated it.

"It's alright Kevin, but thank you. Please, continue eating if you wish." He answered with a genuine smile.

Kevin nodded and picked up his fork again, "You know…you're actually pretty cool…for a dork." He smiled gently and resumed the cheesy feast.

* * *

"Hey, Kev, wait up!" Nazz jogged towards her best friend when she saw him walking in the hallway; the boy turned around and smiled at her. "Where were you all weekend? You barely texted me back."

"Oh, yeah, sorry bout that, I was busy trying to catch up with French work…"

"You? Trying to catch up with homework? Either you're finally using that brain of yours or you were just plain trying to avoid me!" She said with a playful pout.

Kevin lightly blushed and rubbed the back of his neck while shaking his head, "No way! It's true! You can even ask Double Dweeb, he was the one helping me. I-I would never ignore you, Nazz." His voice became softer as he reached the end of his sentence.

She giggled and nodded, lightly touching Kevin's arm, "Alright, alright, I believe you…so, think you'll be free this Saturday then? We could go out."

Kevin felt a tug at his hear, '_Oh my God. Oh my GOD is this really happening right now?!', _"Uh, uh-yeah, yeah, that sounds totally cho-" He was cut off by the sound of something banging hard onto some lockers nearby, and something in his gut gave him a really bad feeling about it.

"What was _that_?" Asked Nazz.

"Not sure I wanna find out…" But even after saying this, Kevin quickly moved to where he thought the noise came from, and sure enough, as he turned the corner into another hall, he could see 3 guys huddled over something on the floor.

Nazz followed quickly behind and stopped right next to the tall redhead, "Oh no, Double D…" was all she said, worriedly. Kevin turned to her, and then back to the lump of mass on the floor, and sure enough, the famous black beanie was on top of the victim's head and his messenger bag was nearby. Kevin clenched his teeth and fists in a sudden flare of anger, but attempted to remain calm as he began to approach the boys.

"Kevin?" Nazz asked when he moved, but he never answered, he just kept going in complete silence.

When he was just a few steps away, one of the boys turned and noticed him, then waved at him as if it was just a random encounter in the hallways and nothing more, "Heya Kev!" the other 2 jocks quickly looked over and waved with a nod at their teammate.

"What do you guys think you're doing?" He asked sternly.

Ricky looked at the sobbing boy on the floor and then back at Kevin with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders, "He was just being a little prick."

"How?" Kevin retorted immediately.

"You ok, man? So what if we ruffled this kids feathers a little bit? Not our fault he's such a wimp! If anything, he should be thanking us for toughening him up!" Answered Danny; Liam laughed and nodded, agreeing with his buddy.

Kevin scowled at the 3 boys in front of him, "Step away from him."

"Dude what are y-"

"Now."

"Fuck, what is up with you today? One minute you don't even spare a glimpse at this kid and the next your defending him?" Asked Liam defensively.

"That is exactly what I'm doing. Now, _move."_

Double D had not said a peep since Kevin showed up, he just clutched at his stomach and fought back the tears from the urge to cry from the pain that was shooting through his body; he just laid there on the cold, hard, floor, silently weeping and trying to just curl up into himself and praying that it would all be over soon and everyone would just leave. But he was also very confused because of Kevin; what Liam had said was right, one minute Kevin completely ignored his existence – he'd even bully him, but never as badly as these 3 have – and then the next he was trying to get his friends to leave him alone. Double D was smart, very smart, and he would like to think he could understand and decipher many things in this world…but right now, Kevin was being quite difficult to understand.

His train of thought was cut off when he felt a rough hand grab his arm and lift him up harshly, earning a small groan of pain for the sockhead. "See? He's perfectly fine. He can still walk; no harm done." Said Liam.

But Kevin could see all the little bruises littered on the Ed's face, including a small cut on the boy's lip, and Kevin didn't even want to think about the number of bruises he might have under his shirt. He looked Edd over, and furrowed his eyebrows at the boy holding him up. He walked closer, until he was only a step away from Liam and gave him a threatening look.

"You 3 have had your fun. Now go back to class before I personally kick your asses back to whatever classroom you came from."

Behind him, Ricky scoffed and crossed his arms, "Look at you playing the saint of all saints…Who are you to act so righteous over us, huh?"

"What?"

"Yeah, he's right." Added Danny, walking closer to Ricky, "It's not like you've never punched a nerd or two in your life. Didn't you give one of his friends the beating of a lifetime like 2 years ago? So what's so different about this time?"

Kevin didn't know how to respond to that. Danny was right, he had hit a few kids before, he did beat the shit out of Eddy two years ago, and he had even messed with Edd before…so… what _was _so different about this time? He couldn't quite pinpoint a reason in his head, but he just felt that way, he just knew he didn't want to see these assholes keep hurting Edd like this…he was too nice, too gentle, too forgiving…he didn't deserve this…he never did.

Finally his mouth reacted and he spoke, "Nothing's different. He's just another kid that you too have utterly fucked up, and yeah, you're right, I've had my fair share of fights, but tell me, have I _ever_ gone _this_ far? _Besides_ Eddy 2 years ago?" He said harshly, pointing at the slender boy right next to him. He grabbed Edd's arm and slung it around his shoulder for support. Liam let go and just walked over to his friends.

"God, Kevin, don't be such a little bitch. Not like we killed the kid." Said Ricky.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, he doesn't even need to go to a damn clinic."

"Go."

"Or what?" Liam took a step towards Kevin and shoved a hand on his chest, making Kevin stumble back on his feet.

"Did you just shove me?" Kevin's temper and patience with the 3 boys was starting to wear dangerously thin.

He shoved him again, but harder, and this time Kevin did almost fall from Double D almost losing his balance as his arm was still around the redhead.

"Kevin, please, just let it go, I'm fine." Edd manage to get out in a soft, pained voiced.

"I got this." Kevin answered, in a stern, yet oddly comforting voice.

"What kind of lame bromance you got going on with this loser?"

"Fuck off Liam."

"Nope." This time, he shoved Edd. Nazz had not moved an inch as she watch everything unfold, and was honestly a little surprised that neither Ricky, Liam, or Danny had even noticed her, but the moment Liam shoved Edd and she saw the look on Kevin's face she knew she had to step in. She quickly hurried over and squeezed herself between the two boys, facing her angry best friend and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Kevin please don't make this situation even worse, let's just get Edd to the nurse's office."

Kevin didn't look to Nazz at first, he just kept eye contact with Liam, but he huffed, looked down at his blonde friend, and said ok.

She smiled softly, but you could still see the worry in her eyes as she removed Edd's arm from around him and over her shoulder instead. The movement made Edd groan a little again.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Do not fret Nazz, really, and thank you." They began to stumble away towards the school elevator so they could get to the first floor where the infirmary was.

"Lame." Huffed Liam, and Kevin immediately turned to him again.

"I know I'm no better than you three, but at least I have a limit."

"Jesus Christ, you are so gay for him all of a sudden. What? Did he suck your dick last night or some-HMMF" A harsh punch the jaw silenced Liam, and he stumbled onto the floor cursing and rubbing his mouth from the pain. "SHIT. WHAT THE FUCK KEVIN?!"

The other 2 boys just stared in shock, from their friend on the floor to Kevin and then back to Liam.

"Pathetic." Was all Kevin spat out before quickly jogging down the stairs towards the infirmary where his friends where. Ricky and Danny hurried to their friend on the floor and tried helping him up but he just flailed his free arm and shoved them away, getting up on his own, now having a nasty bruise on his jaw.

"Oh…he is _really_ gonna regret doing that."

* * *

Nazz was exiting the small infirmary when Kevin was just a few steps away from the door, she was about to say something to him when she saw the purple knuckles on his right arm and she sighed.

"You punched one of them didn't you?..."

"Liam. He deserved it." He said, nodding.

"As much as I dislike the fact that you potentially made this whole mess worse even after I _specifically_ told you not to do it…he did deserve it…"

Kevin didn't say anything, he just gave her a smug, triumphant lopsided grin to which she playfully scoffed at and shook her head, "I took Edd over to the nurse, and she should be done looking him over by now I think. If you want you can go in to check on him too?"

"G-go in? To see him? Uh, nah, that's ok." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Nazz crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hips to the side, "Oh really? Then why did you come down here?"

"To get you, of course!"

"Aahhh, of course of course. Well, here I am, so you've fulfilled your duty. Now get your butt in there!"

"But my class!"

"Oh as if you care" she answered, softly laughing, "Don't worry, I'll let your teacher know. Now go." She practically shoved him into the infirmary and turned before he could get a word out in protest.

Kevin tsked and bit down lightly on his tongue. '_Well…after all that bullshit…I guess the least I can do is see him.'_

He asked the nurse about Edd and she pointed him to the close-curtained stall where Edd was.

The room was white, and cool, and a good size, enough for 8 curtained-stalls with individual beds in typical white-bedding sheets. The room was empty save for the two boys, as the nurse closed the door behind Kevin and went back to sit in her little office just on the other side. He stopped right in front of the blue curtains that closed off Edd's section and spoke before entering.

"Edd? You there?" '_What? Of course he is! Man, what a dumb question…'_

"Indeed; you may come in if you wish to do so." Double D sat up in his bed and floded his arms over his lap.

"Kay."

Kevin gently took hold of the edge of the curtain and moved it so he could enter the little area. "Uhm…How you feelin?"

Double D gently bit down on his lip, revealing a glimpse of the gap in his front teeth, and shrugged, "I've been better I suppose… a lot better… but thank you, Kevin, really…I didn't…I guess I wasn't really…uhm…"

"Expecting that?"

"Yes."

"Yeah…in a way, me neither, heh," he chuckled nervously, but his face became serious once again when he started noticing all the coloring decorating Edd's face in ways it shouldn't. "Man…those asses really did a number on you huh?"

"I suppose so…But, it's fine Kevin, really!...N-not like it hasn't happened before." But this just made Kevin annoyed to hear.

"How can you say that? Something like this should never be fine!"

"Then why have you done this too?"

"I've never gone this far and you know it!"

"Then what about the incident with Eddy?!"

"I am 100% sure Eddy deserved it a lot more than you did!" He huffed in exasperation. "Lift your shirt up."

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Lift. Your. Shirt. Up."

"Why?"

"So I can see what else those fuckers did that's why."

Edd was about to protest, but before he could get a single word out, Kevin shoved him down onto the bed with one hand and grabbed the end of his shirt with his free hand, "Kevin what do you think you're doing?!" The ravenet grasped tightly onto his shirt to prevent the other from lifting it.

"Chill, dork! You were groaning in pain on the floor, and even lifting your arm to put it around my shoulders hurt you." Kevin could see the fight behind Double D's eyes, but he simply sighed through his nodded and gently added, "Please?"

Double D stayed still for a moment; he knew Kevin meant no harm, and he _was_ the one who saved his sorry ass… "O-ok." He moved his shirt up and laid their silently as Kevin looked him over.

Kevin was surprised to see Edd was a lot more outlined than he had given the dork credit for, his body wasn't near Kevin's physically-speaking, but, this wasn't bad…not at all. A couple of bruises colored Edd's light skin, with deep pinks and light purples and tinges of blue around his stomach and sides. They weren't nearly as bad as Kevin had dreaded, and for that he was grateful, but he knew they still caused Edd pain.

Something inside Kevin reacted to the bruises, he sat down next to Edd on the bed, and be fore he knew it his hand reached towards Edd, and his fingers lightly ghosted over his bruised skin; Edd's skin was soft, very soft, and he had the faintest of happy trails leading down to his jeans. He didn't exactly have well defined abs like Kevin's, but the redhead could still feel the hidden strength, and sturdiness of Edd's body.

Edd swallowed, and tried looking anywhere and at anything but Kevin; his heart was starting to race and react in ways he didn't expect nor understand… he hadn't felt like this since prom night of Junior High when Nazz dragged him out to dance with her, oh, he had _such_ a big crush on her back then…But, this is Kevin, and there was just no way this increase in heart rate and hormonal spike could be caused by Kevin right? There was no way he felt any kind of attraction or attachment towards Kevin, correct? Sure he had questioned his sexuality on a few occasions but…but Kevin?... Edd was so confused.

Unbeknownst to the little sockhead, Kevin's heart had started to pick up speed too the moment his fingers made contact with Edd's soft skin; like a spark sending the slightest of chills down his spine and zapping his heart. He was confused. He was confused because it felt weird but also because somehow it felt right and he didn't understand why. This was Double Dork, his nerdy neighbor from across the street, the kid with the beanie eternally attached to his head, and someone he knew since childhood.

Finally, the awkward silence – and the feelings it provoked – became too much for Edd, and he stood up in bed, lowering his shirt once again, and he cleared his throat before speaking, "They hurt, but, I assure you, the pain has subsided thanks to the painkillers the nurse gave me. They're not as bad as they might look."

"R-right…yeah, that's good I guess. I'm still sorry though…"

Edd offered him a soft smile and put a hand on Kevin's shoulder, "Kevin, really, I'm fine; and thank you for helping me back there, truly I am grateful to you. I owe you."

"Nah, don't worry about it dork…Ah geez even your lip is messed up." Kevin had noticed the cut back in the hallway, but he hadn't realize how bloody it had gotten. He lifted his hand, pacing his fingers below Edd's chin, lifting it, and lightly touching his thumb to cut, getting closer to see it better.

Edd's eyes widened not only at the proximity between the two but the action itself; Kevin was being so caring towards him and touching him so gently…

His cheeks reddened like a beet and he swallowed a small lump in his throat, "Uhh…Kevin?"

"Yeah?" Kevin's emerald eyes made direct contact with Edd's cyans and it took him a second to realize what he was doing. '_SHIT.'_ He blushed furiously, jerked back and quickly stood from the bed, "I..uh…sorry. Uhmm…"

"N-no, it's alright…"

"…Gimme your phone."

"What?"

"Your phone, please?"

"It's in my bag on the chair."

"Kay." Kevin turned to his side where the chair was and rummaged Edd's bag for his cellphone, he asked him to unlock the screen and once that deed was done he went into contacts and quickly added his number, then tossed the phone back into the bag. "Call me when you get out of here. I'm taking you home."

"But K-kevin I couldn't possibly just go home! School is not nearly over!"

"Are you serious? 3 football players just beat you up and you still wanna drag your broken ass to class? I don't think so."

"Kevin while I appreciate the concern I am not skipping class." Edd said sternly, crossing his arms.

"I appreciate _your_ concern, but, you are."

"Call me when you get out and let me take you home!"

Kevin turned on his heel and left before Edd could fight back and exited the infirmary. Edd just sat there and sighed in exasperation…perhaps Kevin was right…he was in no condition to go back to class, and he could easily get the nurse to write a note explaining the situation to his teachers for the rest of the day.

Edd looked at his messenged bag and made a lopsided, warm smile. For some reason, it made him really happy to have Kevin looking out for him like this.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:**_ Omg I'm sorry I've taken so long with the update. I felt completely uninspired for the longest time and in addition to that I had a ton to do for school, and now I have 2 midterms coming up next Tuesday *cries*

Anyways...thank you to everyone who has liked/followed/reviewed this fic :D i very much enjoy reviews as feedback - cuz truth be told I'm been having some doubts about this one...should I continue? I'm trying to speed things up a little without it being like BAM. BOYFRIENDS...but..yeah...

Enjoy~

* * *

_**Ch. 5: Guardian**_

Edd got out of the infirmary feeling a lot better, or at least in less pain than before. He thanked the nurse before exiting her office and she smiled at him with concern, advising him to take better care of himself and not get in trouble again; he nodded and walked away, closing the door behind him, but he didn't move from there. Edd looked in the general direction of his locker hallway, and then up to where his current class should be; of course Edd would very much prefer to go to his class as if nothing ever happened – just knowing he was missing out on learning was making him feel weird – but something _did_ happen, and it messed him up, he was bruised, tired, and sore.

Edd looked down to his shoes and sighed, took out his phone from inside his bag and searched his contacts for the newest addition.

"Kevin…perhaps he is correct…I am in no shape to properly learn nor do I have the right mindset at the moment. As much as I hate doing this I think I _should_ go home…yes, I could easily catch up anyway! Very well…" he mumbled the last few words as he tapped Kevin's contact icon and selected the 'text' option.

**To Kevin:** I have thought about your suggestion and I must (unfortunately) agree. I shall be heading home now.

He stuffed his cellphone into his jean pocket instead and walked to his locker; not even a minute later his pocket vibrated, which surprised him a little since he didn't expect such a quick response from Kevin. '_Honestly, Kevin…you are in class, you should not be texting so freely.' _The sockhead thought to himself.

**To sockhead**: Cool, now I got ya in my phone too. & Don't move.

**To Kevin:** Pardon? Why not?

**To sockhead:** told you I was gonna take you home didn't I? so wait for me. By your locker. Now.

**To Kevin:** But, Kevin, you have class! You couldn't possibly just scurry away simply to accompany me home! I assure you I am fine; I do not wish to be a bother.

**To sockhead:** you'll be a 'bother' if you don't keep your ass by your locker and wait for me. I mean it dork! Just gimme a sec.

Edd groaned in defeat, he knew Kevin was stubborn and arguing with him once his mind had already been made had always proved difficult – near impossible – no matter who tried telling him otherwise; Nazz included. He reached his locker and opened it so that he could prepare his things to take home in exchange for those in his bag he no longer needed. He sat in front of his locker while he waited for Kevin, and it took around 10 minutes until he finally heard quick footsteps coming towards him.

"Good, you did wait." Said Kevin with a slight smile.

"I was afraid I never would've heard the end of it in French class." Edd said teasingly, making the jock snort; Kevin opened his own locker and got out his lumpy backpack.

"True that. Alright dork, c'mon, time to get your broken ass home." Kevin nodded his head in the direction of the school's front doors and turned on his heels to walk. Edd scrambled up, dusting his pant legs and rear before catching up with the redhead.

They reached the bike racks where Kevin's precious possession was chained and secured, "I'm guessing you won't be too keen on riding on the back of my bike huh?"

"Not exactly my preferred mode of transportation considering that's not exactly a legitimate two-person bike…however, I have sat at the back of Ed's bike before when we were younger, so I've had the experience."

"So you cool with it?"

"Yes. Just, I very much implore you to be careful! I know our cul-de-sac is only about 6 blocks away but that makes up for 6 blocks of accident possibilities!"

Kevin unchained his bike and moved it away from the rack so they could properly get on, "Choice, we'll get home much faster this way. Hurry up and get on then!"

Edd obliged and ungracefully mounted the bike behind Kevin, it was a small seat with barely enough room for the both of them, causing Edd to be a little too close for comfort to Kevin's body; he was grateful for the simple, back outlining that he could recline on so he wouldn't feel so squished against the boy.

The ravenet put his hands on Kevin's shoulder, to which the redhead shook his head, "No way dork. If you hold on to me like that you'll fly off the second I take a curve. I don't wanna be your cause of death. I'm too pretty for jail!" He added with a chuckle, and Edd couldn't help but join in too with his own soft giggle. "Put your arms around my waist."

Edd's giggling immediately stopped and he stared at Kevin's torso blankly, slowly removing his hands from the boy's shoulders, "O-oh…v-very well." He gingerly began to circle his arms around Kevin, lightly holding onto his own wrists once they (loosely) came full circle.

Kevin sighed, "Tighter…"

"Oh, it's alright, I do believe this should be good enOoOuUGH!" Edd panicked the moment Kevin began to move as fast as he could, and feeling his balance being slightly thrown off he immediately tightened his grip around Kevin, making the other laugh.

"Told ya!"

Edd didn't answer, he just grumbled, causing Kevin to laugh even more in front of him. They wooshed past every person, street sign, crossing, blocks, and Edd would complain about Kevin's speed, constantly reminding him that it wasn't just him on the bike and that if he were to consider the added weight of a second person he should be more careful about his balance.

"Chill dork! I've done this a thousand times with Nazz!"

Part of that made Edd feel slightly better, because it meant that he had the experience, another part of him felt somewhat annoyed by the comment, but he simply put the feeling at the back of his mind and focused on making sure Kevin got them home in one piece.

* * *

Thankfully, before he knew it, Kevin was entering the cul-de-sac and came to a halt in front of Edd's home. Edd got out of the bike, nearly falling down in the process, and turned to face Kevin once he was stable.

"Thank you very much for the ride Kevin, you didn't have to. I shall see you later." He smiled and gave a small wave before turning to walk to his front door, but stopped in his tracks when he heard Kevin parking his bike and starting to walk towards him.

"Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"Uhm…Where are you going?"

"I'm going to your house?" Kevin squinted his eyes, looking at Edd strangely, as if his actions were obvious and he didn't understand why Edd was confused.

"I can see that, then, I guess a better question would be: why?"

"Well I'm not going back to school if that's what you were thinking. We get off at 3 and it's already 1:30, so I'd rather just crash at your place and chill with ya for a while."

"Kevin-"

"Doooooon't even try it dork. I'm not up for a lecture on how I should stay in school; Jesus, it's fine, not like I do it all the time!"

"All the t-"

"Yes, yes, I've skipped class before. Now come on! Let's get inside!" Kevin walked behind Edd, gently pushing him to continue his walk to the front door. Edd huffed at Kevin, but took out his key to unlock the door. He removed his shoes before stepping inside and turned his head to make sure Kevin did the same.

Edd didn't exactly know what to do with Kevin in his home; he didn't really know what he considered fun in comparison, and they hadn't planned on working on any homework – Besides, Edd was sure Kevin wouldn't want to anyway. They settled for getting some snacks and drinks from Edd's kitchen and sitting down on the couch to watch some T.V.

It took them forever to agree on what to watch; Kevin wanted to watch a college basketball game while Edd would've rather watch Pride and Prejudice.

"I can't believe you actually wanna watch it."

"I can't believe you haven't watched it before. It really is a great movie Kevin; there's nothing wrong with a little Victorian drama and romance."

"Snooorreeeee."

Finally they settled on watching a shark show on OASIS, which was actually quite entertaining and interesting for the both of them. Edd was seated on one end of the couch while Kevin occupied the other end, with enough space between them for a third person to comfortably sit down too.

Kevin was completely engrossed in the show but shifted his concentration when he heard a small groan coming from Edd. "You ok dude?"

"Yes I'm fine, I think I just need to take some pain killers again that's all."

"The bruises on your stomach and sides?"

"Yes…"

"Yeah…those didn't look nice."

Edd didn't answer; he just stood up and quickly went into the kitchen to look for some pills, leaving Kevin alone in the living room. Unbeknownst to Edd, Kevin just sat and watched his every move around the kitchen. '_Why am I worrying so much over this dork anyway…I mean, here I am watching some tiger sharks on his T.V. on his couch, in his fucking house… Not even 2 months ago I would've barely given him the time of day…What have you done to me Double Dweeb.' _His train of thought didn't end in a tone of annoyance or irritation towards the little genius, but rather genuine curiosity. Edd returned and plopped down onto the sofa again, Kevin didn't even look at him this time, but he wasn't paying attention to the show either.

He thought about the past few weeks, how annoyed he felt once he realized he'd have to sit next to Edd for the rest of the school year for his class, how ignorant he was at first to his friends' cruelty towards Edd, how strangely at ease he felt eating lunch at the boy's home, his concern when he found him crying, his rage when he found his friends beating him up, and whatever he felt during that moment in the infirmary…that thing which he still cannot name…and now this…

'_What have you done to me Double Dweeb…'_

Kevin quickly snapped his head back to the T.V., not even realizing he had started to stare at Edd again; he didn't want to be caught staring at the kid, and by the looks of it he succeeded because Edd didn't mention anything.

* * *

They kept on watching T.V. until late at night, with Edd even convincing Kevin to watch Pride and Prejudice on Netflix so he could "have the cultural experience"

"If I wanted a damn cultural experience I'd be watching National Geographic or so-"

"Shh! Kevin, please, it's starting."

"Grreeeaattt…"

The redhead didn't want to admit it but after a while he actually kinda got into the movie and actually kinda liked it, but, again, he wouldn't be admitting he was wrong to Edd any time soon – not that it was necessary. During the movie, Edd had stolen a quick glance at Kevin, smiling to himself when he noticed the redhead's complete concentration in the movie. Edd knew he liked it. After Pride and Prejudice they decided to go with something of Kevin's choice, and after some search on Netflix he settled on Shrek. Kevin liked cartoon movies because he felt it kept him attuned to his inner child and he thought it was pretty funny too. Sometime around the scene with the montage of Hallelujah while Fiona was getting ready for the wedding, the mellow symphony began to make both boys drowsy in the comfort of the warm couch.

Edd tried staying awake with all his might; it was only 5:30 and Edd didn't want to mess up his sleep schedule with a sudden nap. But the song wasn't helping and soon he found it harder and harder to stay awake. He yawned, '_maybe a quick nap won't be so bad…I've had a long day afterall…'_ and with that he let himself drift into a peaceful slumber.

On the other end of the couch, Kevin was having a hard time with his eyelids too; he turned to Edd to let him know he might be going home now because of how tired he felt, only to notice that smaller boy curled up, asleep, and with his mouth slightly open so that you could just barely see his gap. Kevin sighed and laughed softly to himself, '_guess he got pretty tired too…I don't blame him.' _

The redhead stood up and stretched, sighing in satisfaction at the relaxed feeling of his muscles afterwards; he turned off the T.V. and was starting towards the door when he stopped to look back at Double D. He bit his lower lip and rubbed the back of his neck, "Maybe I should take him up to his room…"

He felt bad for what had happened to the dork today, and considering the bruises he had, he doubted he felt completely comfortable in his current position on the couch. Kevin approached Edd and tried to calculate how he would be picking him up without waking him; after some very careful movements, he managed to pick him up bridal style, and was about to walk to the stairs only to freeze when he felt the boy in his arms start to squirm. '_Damn, damn, damn! How do I explain this to him?!'_

He turned his head to the side to avoid awkward eye contact, but when he realized Double D hadn't said a word, he furrowed his eyebrows and stared back down at the boy in his arms.

He was still asleep, and if anything, his head was now nested comfortably on the crook of Kevin's neck, and the redhead could feel the soft fabric of the famous, black hat, along with a few stray pieces of Edd's hair.

He could feel the blush starting to color his freckled cheeks.  
It felt…nice…but Kevin didn't like that thought because he didn't know what he meant, and part of him felt like maybe he didn't want to even know what it meant. He huffed through his nose, attempting to cancel out those thoughts and feelings – which he thought were, of course, _more_ than impossible – and began his trek to Double D's room. He carefully opened the door, and once inside he took a moment to just look around; this was his first time ever in the boy's room.

Everything was neat and proper, with labels everywhere and on anything that has a name – Kevin giggled upon seeing Edd's cactus on his desk and noticing the label 'Jim' on the pot. '_What a dork.' – _there was a tall bookshelf completely filled with books of any kind, a few specimens here and there, a mobile of the solar system, and even an ant farm. The room _screamed _'Double D', but Kevin had to admit it actually looked kinda cool with all the sciency stuff lying around.

He walked over to Edd's bed and carefully laid him down on it. Edd stirred once again but this time he hummed contently as he found comfort in his soft bed. Kevin could've just gone home at that point, but instead he lingered, sitting down at the edge of the bed next to Edd. He placed his hand on the hem of Edd's shirt, and slightly lifted it up, getting another view of the bruises coloring Edd's skin.

'_Those fuckers got off easy…I'll be damned if I see them hurting Edd again.'_

Kevin still didn't understand why he had this sudden protective nature with Edd, but he figured it was just their new friendship. Edd had always been the lesser of 3 evils back in their childhood years, he was helpful and he was nice…even to Kevin; after all the shit he put him and his friends through, he would still act as nice as possible to Kevin or anyone else. Always avoiding conflict.

By now Kevin was dangerously close to falling asleep. His eyes stung and his limbs were growing limp; he let out a big yawn and laid himself down next to Edd on the bed. His brain wasn't working at full speed anymore, so rationalizing what he was doing was not even a question for Kevin. He laid on his side, facing Edd's sleeping face, and he was the last thing the redhead saw before slowly, but surely, falling asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_ Oh man, sorry I took so long! I've been drowning on homework and assignments and even when I did have time to work on it, I was super slow because I wasn't feeling inspired at all...but finally I did and I managed to finish this chapter!

Thank you to all my readers for liking / following / reviewing! I rather enjoy reading reviews and I'm glad you guys do seem to be liking this so far. I will try to keep writing this till the very end :)

Reviews are always welcomed. Enjoy!

**tumblr:** little - laughssassin . tumblr . com

* * *

_**Ch. 6: Not Again!**_

Edd stirred in his bed, blissfully nuzzling his cheek against his sturdy pillow, '…sturdy?...what…wait…' he furrowed his eyebrows but still did not open his eyes; pillows were not supposed to be sturdy, and he made sure his pillow was at a perfect level of softness for him, plus, now that he thought about it, he had no recollection of even making it to his bed. He was warm and comfortable, so of course he didn't want to ruin the moment by opening his eyes, but the fact that this "pillow" was so strange was not letting him relax anymore, so finally, he slowly opens his eyes and blinks a few times as he let them readjust in his dim room. Dark blue was the first color to hit his eyes in front of him, but his pillow was white, not blue, his gaze trailed up to a simple gray shirt, and it was then that his drowsy eyes shot wide open in realization and shock.

'_Shirt?! Oh lord what is this?!' _He bolted up in bed and looked down to the figure next to him. A tall, strong frame, wide shoulders, strong jawline, freckles, and bright copper hair; Edd had to quickly cover his mouth to keep from squeaking out loud, hoping not to suddenly wake the sleeping redhead. Outside the sunset was nearly twilight and tones of orange, pink, and even a bit of purple played across Edd's room, warmly coloring the items and its inhabitants. The sockhead noticed how yellows and oranges streaked Kevin's body, with hues of pink coloring his freckled cheeks and tinting his copper hair with deeper reds. Edd's eyes softened at the sight and his hand slightly fell from his mouth; he looked so peaceful…He looked _beautiful._

Something about this sparked an odd curiosity from Edd, he sat cross-legged, and very slowly, he kept moving his hand down and towards Kevin's sleeping face; he stopped just inches away from the other and took in a deep breath. Edd ghosted his middle and ring fingers over the other boy's cheeks, as if attempting to count each little mark individually, tracing it lightly over the bridge of his nose, where he counted 17 sparsely placed little freckles. He smiled softly to himself; Kevin looked…different. As if his 'tough guy' image completely went away as he laid there, and all that was left was a sweet, gentle face.

'_Sweet? Kevin, sweet?' _Pondered Edd, '_Never thought I'd be putting these two words together…althought I should give him some credit for his more benign behavior towards my friends and I after the incident with Eddy's brother…although…' _He thought about all those time his horrible friends bullied him and the other Eds and all those times Kevin could've stopped them or at least told them to take it easy on the poor trio; he bit the inside of his cheek as he continued his train of thought, '_Well…he did take me out of my locker…and he's the reason why I didn't get away with even more harm to my body…and I'm guessing he's the reason why I'm in my bed now…he did help me…I suppose maybe there is a sweet side to Kevin.'_

Suddenly he heard a soft groan and Edd was snapped out of his thoughts and back into reality, making him realize his fingers rested gently on the top of Kevin's right cheek; he swiftly jerked his hand away from the boy and placed both hands between his legs, looking down intently at them as he felt Kevin waking up next to him.

Kevin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned, stretching his limbs and sighing contently after a good nap; he scratched his head and started to slowly open his eyes. He squinted them and looked around to his left, feeling confused when he began to realize that his room was laid out very differently and he never remembered buying so much sciency stuff unless it was absolutely necessary for school; he looked up to his right and that's when he saw the lean sockheaded boy sitting next to him on the bed and avoiding his gaze. That's when he remembered that this wasn't his room at all; this was _Edd's_ room.

He bolted up and sat in bed, reaching for his hat on the bedside table next to him and placing it clumsily over his head.

"Oh, uhh, hey dork." He cleared his throat and looked down in slight embarrassment.

"Hello, Kevin, uhmm…I suppose it would be right of me to assume you're the reason why I made it up to my room?" Edd was glad the room was darker now and it was easier to hide his blushing.

"Y-yeah…you fell asleep on the couch and I figured you'd get a much better sleep on your actual bed… y'know, considering those bruises and shit…so I carried ya."

"Language," Edd reprimanded gently, "But I agree, thank you, but, really Kevin you didn't have to…"

"It's no big deal." Kevin stood up from bed, giving his back to Edd, and rubbed the back of his neck, then faced the dork once again, "Uhm…guess I'll be leaving now…see ya in school Double Dweeb."

"O-oh, I'll walk you to the door."

Kevin nodded and both boys walked in an awkward silence down the stairs to the front door; Kevin opened it and stepped out, with Edd behind him holding onto the doorknob from his side inside the house, and stopped before taking the first step down the small porch.

"Hey…be more careful alright? I can't guarantee I'll keep magically showing up to save you." He said with a short chuckle.

"Well it's not like I look for trouble actively. Believe me, your friends are the last people I would like to come across during school hours." Retorted the sockhead.

"I'm kinda starting to wonder about the "friend" thing actually…but, anyway, just be careful ok, and text me if you can…actually…do it whenever something like this happens"

"Kevin I would not like to bother yo-"

"Please do it, it'll…uhm…it'll help…me."

"Help you?"

"That way I just won't worry ok?" the words rushed out of Kevin's mouth, a little unintentionally harsh, but he continued anyway, "Just text me if you're ever in trouble ESPECIALLY if it's any of those three. See ya at school." He turned and quickly crossed the street to his house and dashed inside as if trying to escape the situation.

Double D only blinked, slowly processing the information in his head, then looked down and softly smiled and he closed his door.

'_Yeah…I suppose even Kevin can be sweet.'_

* * *

As usual, Edd made his way to school early the next day, careful to avoid seeing the trio of his nightmares, and he would've liked avoiding the questioning, or even concerned, stares of other students, but it was somewhat hard to do when you still had some light bruising and cuts visible.

He was at his locker organizing some things when a shrill voice startled him and captured his attention.

"Holy shit Double D! What the fuck happened to _you?_"

"Good morning to you too, Eddy…" He didn't really feel like re-living the moment.

Edd stepped closer and gave him a concerned look, "Is Double D in pain?"

"Do not fret, Edd, I'm fine, really."

"Yeah, sure…c'mon sockhead, who did this?" Demanded the short Ed.

"Eddy…"

"Tell me."

"Ed-"

"Who. Hurt. You?"

Edd sighed; he couldn't honestly get angry at Eddy and his concern for him, but he also honestly did not wish to talk about it, "It's not like there's anything you can do now; this," he said as he pointed to his bruised face, "has already occurred, now please, gentlemen, we must get ready for class soon."

Eddy huffed in annoyance, "It was those three assholes again wasn't it?"

"Let it go, Eddy."

"Relax Eddy; if Double D says he's ok then that's all that matters! It's ok."

"Thank you Ed, now, I shall be leaving you two. I'll see you fellas by break time."

Ed nodded and waved his friend goodbye; Eddy still looked annoyed and concerned but nodded. Once Double D was out of view, the short boy turned to his tall friend and spoke.

"You don't actually believe "it's ok" do ya lumpy?"

"Of course not…"

"Then let's do something about it." He answered with a sly grin.

"I dunno Eddy…I don't think Double D would like that and I don't wanna upset him."

"Ugh, c'mooooonnn! It'll be harmless little payback!"

"Do you have a plan?"

"Well…no…but uhh…I-I'll think of something! I always do!"

"Hmmm…" Ed was still unsure about whether or not agreeing to this 'payback', and Eddy could see it, so he swung an arm over his friend's neck, pulling him down to his level.

"You and I both know I'll come up with something! When have I ever failed us? Do it for Double D, Ed!"

"…okie dokie Eddy!" If it meant helping his dear friend, he would do it.

"Choice! Now come on, we got some planning to do!"

* * *

Edd was absentmindedly making his way to his French class, wearing a blank expression on his face, when suddenly he bumped into someone; he immediately apologized and mentally cursed himself for not being more attentive, but then becoming increasingly nervous with the thought that perhaps he rant into one of his attackers from yesterday.

"Double Dweeb?" Or not.

"Oh, Kevin, good morning. Sorry about that."

"It's kay…uhm…how you feelin'?"

"Much better thank you." A momentary awkward silence came between the two; Kevin trying to control his concern over his new friend and Edd trying to decipher the weird fuzzy feeling in his stomach. Kevin was about to say something when all of a sudden, a certain blonde came between them and lightly got a hold on Double D's shoulder.

"Double D, oh my god, are you ok? Were you seriously hurt? How are you feeling?" Nazz bombarded him with questions, as she quickly looked him over.

The ravenet blinked quickly in surprise but finally managed to answer, "A-ah, yes, do not worry Nazz, I'm fine, no major injuries. Granted I do have a couple of somewhat painful bruises here and there on my torso but it's nothing to worry about. Kevin even made it a personal matter to make sure I got home safely as opposed to staying for the rest of the school day."

She turned to the redhead, "Really? Aw, that's sweet of you Kevin." She smiled sweetly at the boy, who lightly blushed smiling back at her, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh i-it was nothing. Just helping a pal that's all."

For some reason Edd felt as if Kevin's words just didn't sit right in his mind, and the fuzzy feeling became muddled with something else as he saw Nazz and Kevin just smiling at each other. Curiosity? That didn't make sense. Happiness? Not that he wouldn't be happy for them if they got together but that definitely didn't feel like happiness. Confusion? But there was no good reason for him to be confused… _Jealousy?_ No…no, preposterous!

Edd softly cleared his throat, breaking the others' gazes from each other, "Well, as I stated before, there's nothing of serious concern, Nazz, and thank you for your help yesterday as well." He finished with a small, soft smile for the blonde.

"Sure thing Edd," she smiled back. Kevin looked at the both of them; he kind of really liked that smile, but wasn't sure if he really appreciated how the other person was smiling at them too…wait…who was he talking about? Who's smile was it that he liked? '_No…no, this is stupid, of course it's Nazz…of course…'_

"Well, uh, we should really be going to class now, eh? I'll catch ya later Nazz. Come on Double Dork."

"Oh, right. Farewell Nazz."

Both boys acted strangely during class, and they could feel it, but neither of them wanted to ask the other questions, especially because they weren't even sure if this was actually a thing, or just a personal feeling, and they didn't want to come off as rude or unnecessarily concerned. So they just kept quiet about it.

* * *

During lunch, Danny, Ricky, and Liam were nowhere in sight, but Kevin knew they were at school that day because Rolf had a class with Liam and Danny beforehand. He looked over to where the Eds sat together at a table, making sure the 3 jocks were nowhere near, and felt at ease when he couldn't find them close to Edd. Then he just found himself staring at the boy; his cyan eyes, making a striking contrast against his fair skin and what little jet-black hair he could see escaping through the back of his beanie, his genuine smile that would show the gap in his teeth, how he licked his lips and then gently bit his lower one as he thought of things before answering. All these other little things he had never noticed before but for some reason was staring to notice now.

"Casanova Kevin? Allo? Do you have a turnip up your ear?" Rolf asked, poking the redhead's cheek, bringing said boy out of his trance.

"Hm? Why'd you poke me? What turnip?"

Rolf furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and quickly looked over in the direction Kevin was staring off into before he got poked. He saw the infamous trio of the cul-de-sac, and more importantly, he saw Edd sitting in Kevin's direct view.

"Aaaah, the rooster seeks the hen but cannot not enter the henhouse, yes?"

"…What?"

"Were you looking at Double-the-Ed boy?"

"WH-WHAT? N-nah, nah, well, kinda, j-just kinda checking that those assholes don't start messing with him so roughly again."

"Rolf does not see any danger approaching them."

"Yeah…and I hope it stays that way." Kevin didn't look back at the Ed's table anymore, which unfortunately, turned out to be a bad idea, because right at that moment Edd stood up to go throw some trash away, leaving his 2 friends behind as he quickly walked over to the nearest trash cans by the main cafeteria doors. He squeaked in surprise when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and his stomach sank at the sound of the stranger's voice, "Hey there little nerd." Specially because it wasn't a stranger at all.

"O-h, h-hello…Liam…"

"Hmm? Are you nervous around me dork?"

"Uhm…well…we-we don't exactly get along…"

"Yeah, that's true, but you know what? I'm reaaalllyyyy sorry about yesterday, and so are the other two; we got totally carried away didn't we?"

"Well…truth be told, yes, I suppose you did… but thank you very much for your apology! I'm glad you and your friends have reflected upon your actions and seen the immaturity of it all, it's simply sp-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's was cool of us; got it, nerd." He cut off the ravenet, silencing him sternly, "Uhm, now…how about I make it up to ya?"

"Oh? What do you propose? It's really not necessary Liam…"

"I insist! Hmm…come on; walk with me, talk with me, let's see what we can come up with.

Liam dragged the boy out of the lunch room, unknown to both that right at that moment Ed had seen them exiting the cafeteria, "Hey Eddy…wasn't that Double D? and…Liam?"

"LIAM?!" Eddy dropped his food and fire sparked in his eyes and he yelled the boy's name at his friend.

As if his ears had specifically put on a filter for any of the three boys' names, Kevin clearly heard Eddy's angry voice and a shiver ran uncomfortably down his spine. He shot his head to the direction of their table and noticed the two boys staring at the main doors (well, Edd was staring, Eddy was more like, _glaring_ at them), and before he could even comprehend what his body was doing, he darted out of his seat and ran to the doors.

When he passed by the Eds' table on his way out he gave them a quick "I'm on it!" not even bothering to stay long enough to listen to Eddy's complains about him minding his own business and leaving this to them. He didn't care about what Eddy had to say, he just cared about finding Edd before something bad happened to him again.

Liam still had an arm securely around Edd's shoulder as he quickly dragged him along a hallway, then suddenly he stopped in front of a classroom. "I think we should talk in here." He said with sweet malice in his voice, which unfortunately went by unnoticed by the nervous sockhead.

"In a classroom? To be honest Liam, I'm not sure why we even left the cafeteria or got this far away to begin with; this area is completely void of life."

Liam twisted the knob to open the door and looked at Edd straight in the eye, "Exactly." He answered grinning, then shoved the boy inside before shutting the door behind them.

From around the corner, Danny and Ricky appeared, looked at each other, and smiled devilishly, separating and going off in different directions making sure to guard the area from other students that could possibly notice, and especially from a certain redhead.

Inside, Liam stood tall against the wall, staring coldly at Edd, who slowly walked away and gulped. The jock chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright dork, let's talk. What exactly are you to Kevin?"

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"Christ, can you talk like a normal teenager for once? I said, what the fuck are you to Kevin?"

"I-I'm nothing, just a, just a…" He remembered Kevin's words from earlier that morning, "just a pal!"

"A _pal_, eh? Well, we're his _pals _too; in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm more of a _pal_ to Kevin than you are, unless…" Liam walked away from the door and slowly stalked closer to Edd. "Unless there's something I'm missing here… C'mon Edd, you can tell me"

"I assure you, Liam, there's nothing more! Kevin was simply helping me." Edd hadn't even noticed they had just kept walking backwards until his back hit the cold wall behind him.

"BULL." Liam answered, taking the opportunity to slam his hands to Edd's sides, making the shorter boy flinch, much to his amusement. He inched his face closer to the boy and spoke in a dark, low tone next to Edd's ear. "Kevin doesn't care about weak little nerds like you. He never has; hell, just last year we humiliated the fuck out of your friend didn't we? Kevin's no different from us, kid."

Edd didn't dare speak, not yet.

Liam chuckled, "At a loss for words? My, my, what an accomplishment for me…but I'm guessing it's because you know I'm right. That wasn't friendship, little nerd, that was _pitty, _that was _guilt, _or maybe…just maybe, he's just trynna get on your good side so it's even easier to fool you later.

"Kevin wouldn't do that…"

"What was that?"

"K-kevin…Kevin wouldn't do something like that…I mean yes he was quite the bully not so long ago but I am sure he has matured at least somewhat."

"Tch, ya got too much faith in him." He moved his head so that he was now facing Double D completely, making the sockhead amazingly uncomfortable at the lack of personal space. Something about this felt almost menacing.

"Kevin is no different. You probably just did him a little _favor_." Liam grinned.

"F-favor?" Edd held his breath as he had his chin being held tightly and lifted up so his gaze met Liam's and there was no escape.

"You have a cute face, not very manly at all, with the proper concentration and imagination you could pass for a girl…well, that and very low standards." He laughed darkly at his own joke, "It's a little disgusting I think, and pathetic of him, but I suppose he's also growing impatient that he ain't getting nowhere with the blonde friend of his. Hmm, didn't think she'd be _that_ hard to get, if you know what I mean."

Indeed he knew what Liam meant, and how dare he talk about Nazz or Kevin that way!

"What? Now you're getting angry with me?" He asked harshly, digging his fingers into Edd's chin as he held on tightly."

"Let go of me Liam!" Edd managed to spurt out.

"Don't get me wrong Edd, I'm not gay, and even if I was I could do so much better than you, but, as I said earlier…with enough concentration and imagination, even you could pass for someone else, and besides…after what your stupid _PAL _did yesterday I think it's only fair I get a little even with him, don't you?" He moved his hand so that Edd looked like he was nodding in agreement, "I'm glad you agree!"

"LIAM LET G-AGH" Edd flinched when he felt teeth clenching around the delicate skin on his neck repetitively. "W-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Edd had some air knocked out of him as Liam punched him in the stomach to silence him, right where one of his biggest bruises blossomed, causing extra pain.

"If there's even the slightest chance you are important to Kevin, then I'll make you my payback." He smiled darkly and bit the boy harshly across his neck, causing Edd to flinch and squirm, attempting to get away, but the jock was much stronger and it was useless.

* * *

Kevin quickly jogged around the hallways, trying to find any sign of the boys he was looking for, but so far he had had no luck. He tsk'd in annoyance and looked around, trying to think of where Liam could've possibly dragged Edd off to. He knew that if he wanted to hurt the boy again, it would have to be at a very empty area or somewhere easily hidden. He then decided to try his luck to the further back of the school, which he knew would be mostly, if not completely empty during lunch.

His guess was right. Not only was the area empty, but he saw Ricky slowly walking around, looking in every direction, as if patrolling the area. If Ricky was there, then surely the other 2 were somewhere nearby. There were only classrooms here, so Kevin knew Edd and Liam had to be in one of them, and he'd have to watch out for Danny walking around as well.

He waited for Ricky to walk around a corner, and once he was sure the boy was out of view, he quietly walked in the direction he had first seen him coming from, while at the same time keeping a careful eye out for the other one. He passed by some classrooms, gently trying the knob for each one, feeling irritated as the first 3 failed to open for him. He had a really bad feeling about this, even worse than the one he had yesterday before finding Edd curled up on the floor with the other 3 surrounding him like vultures; for the jocks to have separated, and Liam to have Ricky and Danny playing lookout for him…something bad was definitely going on.

Kevin passed by a 4th. room, and right as he was about to place his hand on the knob, he heard a crash from inside, as if stuff was being toppled over from the other side, but it sounded like a struggle, and as he pressed his ear to the door, he realized he could hear some faint voices. '_Found you motherfucker.' _Kevin grabbed the knob and twisted it, swiftly opening the door and revealing the 2 struggling boys inside.

It was as if time froze for the 3 of them, but after that, in a split second, Kevin went from wide-eyed shock, to a snarling rage

"WHAT THE _FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO HIM?!"_


End file.
